easyJet today announced plans to commence operations at Birmingham International Airport with the introduction of two new routes connecting Birmingham with Geneva and Grenoble.
As the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham has a huge catchment area and a demand for low-fare services and as a result the airline expects to carry 45,000 passengers on these two new routes within the first season of operation.
source: Easier
European airlines will have to advertise tickets at full price to avoid landing customers with a slew of hidden charges, according to new rules adopted by the European Parliament on Wednesday.
The ruling, which needs approval from EU states before it comes into force, revises the bloc’s rules on airlines to boost competition by making it easier for travelers to compare prices before booking a flight.
source: MSNBC
BMI is more than doubling its fleet of long-haul aircraft as it prepares to launch its first services between London and the US.
The move into the lucrative transatlantic market from Heathrow will start in next spring, as BMI takes advantage of the “‘open skies’†agreement that was signed between the US and European Union (EU) earlier this year. The deal will allow European airlines for the first time to run transatlantic flights to any American city from any EU country, and not just their home country. In return, American carriers will have free access to European airports.
source: flightmapping.com
In the face of increasing competition from international airlines on the profitable India-US route, Air India will introduce direct non-stop flights between Mumbai and New York from August 1.
Two other non-stop flights – between New Delhi and New York and Bangalore and San Francisco – will be launched in February and mid-next year respectively.
The Mumbai-New York flight time will be around 14 hours.
source: chennaionline.com
The Dallas-based low-cost airline, which is the largest carrier at Louisville International Airport based on passenger traffic, tacked on the $10 increase for select long-haul trips of more than 1,250 miles, said Southwest spokeswoman Paula Berg.
Some short- and medium-haul trips saw one-way increases of $1, $3 and $5, she said.
The fare increases are intended to offset high fuel costs.
Lufthansa AG, Germany’s largest airline, said Tuesday that first-half passenger figures rose 5.9 percent to a record as the carrier used up more of its capacity.
About 27 million passengers flew with Lufthansa in the first six months of the year, the company said in a statement.
The seat load factor – or the amount of capacity taken up – improved by 2.1 percentage points to 76.1 percent, Lufthansa said.
source: Forbes
The Spanish low cost airline, Vueling, is to open its fourth hub. The new centre will be in Sevilla and follows current centres in Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. Three Airbus A320’s will be based in Sevilla and used on routes to Valencia, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan and Bilbao from the end of the October. Vueling is celebrating its 3rd birthday this month.
source: typicallyspanish.com
Ryanair maintained its barrage of complaints against governments and regulators, airport authorities and competitors with a blast against the European Commission on Tuesday morning.
Europe’s largest low-cost airline said it would sue the Commission for “‘its repeated failure to take action on a number of state aid complaints involving Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Olympic Airways, which were submitted to the Commission over a year ago'”.
Ryanair alleges hundreds of millions of euros of illegal state aid has subsidised these airlines and that Brussels has failed to act.
source: MSNBC
Frontier Airlines today announced preliminary traffic results for June 2007. Revenue passenger miles increased 15.2 percent to 936,492,000 for June 2007 from the same period last year. Available seat miles increased 12.7 percent to 1,076,255,000 for June 2007 from the same period last year.
This resulted in a load factor for June 2007 of 87.0 percent, an increase of 1.8 points from June 2006, when the airline reported a load factor of 85.2 percent. The airline carried 984,864 passengers during June 2007, a 14.8 percent increase from June 2006.
source: CNN
A backlog of thousands of bags has built up at Heathrow Airport following the recent terror alerts.
Extra security checks were introduced after the suspected failed car bombings in London and Glasgow, and Terminal 4 was closed by a suspect package.
Heavy rain which delayed some flights has also added to the luggage mountain.
A British Airways spokesman said volunteers had been drafted in to help clear the backlog, but it could take several days to sort out.
source: BBC News
